- ALMEIDA VS. HUGHES SIGNED FOR UFC 117

by Ken Pishna – MMAWeekly.com
Matt Hughes and Ricardo Almeida are signed, sealed, and soon to be delivered to mixed martial arts fans in Oakland, Calif. The two have inked bout agreements to fight at the as yet unannounced UFC 117 at the Oracle Arena in the Bay Area city.

Almeida, during a recent guest appearance on Versus’ “The Daily Line,” announced he had signed his bout agreement for the fight. Hughes confirmed his end of the deal in a recent blog post on his website.

“The UFC hasn’t told me I can release this yet, but I’m going to go ahead and say that I’ve done my paperwork to fight Ricardo Almeida on August 7th, in Oakland, CA,” he wrote. “A lot of you know my history with the UFC, I’ve never turned down a fight and this is who they asked me to fight next.”

One of the most decorated champions in UFC history, Hughes (44-7) is fresh off of a victory over Renzo Gracie at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. The Gracies haven’t fared well against Hughes. Not only did he defeat Renzo, but he has also defeated Renzo’s cousin, Royce, and Renzo’s first American black belt, Matt Serra.

Almeida (12-3) is also a disciple of Renzo Gracie. He returned to MMA in February 2008 after a three and a half year hiatus. He has gone 4-1 since returning, his only loss being a split decision to Patrick Cote. Fighting most of his career at 185 pounds, Almeida made the move down to 170 pounds in his last fight, submitting Matt Brown at UFC 111.

Anderson Silva is expected to defend his middleweight title against Chael Sonnen in the UFC 117 main event with a rematch between Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves also on the main card.